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Mexico Drawing Ideas From Axolotls to Pyramids

One real thing from Mexico with the detail to get right: an animal, a place, a dish or a craft.

Mexico Drawing Ideas From Axolotls to Pyramids

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  1. A tray of conchas in three flavoursThe usual toppings are chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Same roll nine times, three colours.

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Animals and plants 17

  • A cloud of monarchs filling the sky Monarchs fly thousands of miles south each autumn to spend the winter in Mexico. Hundreds of small orange marks.
  • A dahlia in a jar The dahlia was declared Mexico's national flower in 1963. Draw from a real flower or a photograph.
  • A golden eagle landing on a prickly pear The national arms show a golden eagle on a prickly pear cactus. Dark brown, golden-brown on the nape.
  • A grey whale and her calf Grey whales are known from lagoons on the Baja California Peninsula. Mottled grey backs, one large, one small.
  • A jaguar's coat pattern filling a square Pale yellow to tan fur with spots that turn into rosettes. Fill a square with them, no two alike.
  • A jaguar's face among leaves The biggest cat in the Americas, and Mexico is part of its range. Spots on the head, rosettes on the sides.
  • A poinsettia The poinsettia comes from Mexico. Its red parts are coloured leaves called bracts, not petals.
  • A prickly pear pad with one flower and one fruit The pads are called nopales and the fruit tuna. One flat oval, a showy flower on its rim.
  • A vaquita surfacing The smallest of the whales and porpoises, found only in the northern Gulf of California. Tall triangular fin.
  • A whale shark's spotted back filling the page The largest fish, which gathers to feed off the Yucatán Peninsula. Dark grey with pale spots and stripes.
  • A xoloitzcuintle sitting The Mexican hairless dog, known for its smooth skin and wrinkles. Let a few folds on the brow do the work.
  • A young saguaro beside an old one A tree-like cactus of the Sonoran Desert, which reaches into Sonora. Arms come late: the young one is a plain column.
  • An agave rosette from above Agaves grow as big rosettes of tough, fleshy leaves. A star of pointed leaves, each overlapping the next.
  • An axolotl face on, gills spread A salamander from the lakes of Xochimilco that keeps its outside gills all its life. Wide head, feathery gills.
  • An axolotl swimming, seen from above The adults never leave the water. Draw the body as one long curve, the gills spread out at the head.
  • Maize, beans and a tomato Maize was first farmed in Mexico; beans and tomatoes are native to its cooking. One cob, one pod, one fruit.
  • One monarch wing up close Tawny orange cells between black veins, and two rows of small white spots in the black margin.

Places and ancient sites 16

  • A boat on the canals of Xochimilco Xochimilco, in Mexico City, is known for its canals and its colourful boats, pushed along with a pole.
  • A cenote seen from its rim A cenote is a sinkhole where collapsed limestone exposes groundwater. The Yucatán Peninsula has thousands.
  • A chinampa with water on every side The canals of Xochimilco run between artificial islands called chinampas. Draw one plot and its four channels.
  • A map of Mexico with its two peninsulas Mark Mexico City, the Baja California peninsula and the Yucatán Peninsula. Use an atlas for the outline.
  • A stairway street in Guanajuato The city lies in a narrow valley. Many streets are alleys too tight for cars, or long flights of steps.
  • A stone serpent's head at the foot of a stairway Carved serpent heads sit at the base of one staircase of El Castillo. Draw the head large, the steps rising behind.
  • A temple at Palenque among the trees A Maya city in Chiapas that the forest covered after it declined. It has since been excavated.
  • An Olmec colossal head Stone heads carved from basalt boulders by the Olmec, from at least 900 BCE. Each wears its own headdress.
  • The Aztec sun stone A huge round stone sculpture in the National Anthropology Museum in Mexico City. Work outward from the central disc.
  • The Copper Canyon with a train on its rim A system of six canyons in Chihuahua, in the northwest. The most popular way to see it is by train.
  • El Castillo at Chichen Itza The Maya step pyramid in Yucatán: nine square terraces, a stairway up each of four faces, a temple on top.
  • The flag of Mexico Three equal vertical bands of green, white and red, with the eagle, cactus and snake in the middle band.
  • Pico de Orizaba above the clouds Also called Citlaltépetl, the highest peak in Mexico. One cone standing above a band of cloud.
  • Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl side by side Twin volcanoes southeast of Mexico City, joined by a high saddle. Popocatépetl is the active one.
  • The Pyramid of the Sun from the Avenue of the Dead Teotihuacan, an ancient city northeast of Mexico City that is centuries older than the Aztecs.
  • Tulum on its cliff above the sea A walled Maya city on the cliffs of the Yucatán Peninsula, facing the Caribbean. Grey stone, bright water.

Food 14

  • A concha A Mexican sweet roll named for its round shape and its striped, shell-like top. Curved grooves from one side.
  • A cup of hot chocolate with froth The froth is made by spinning a wooden whisk, the molinillo, in the drink. A plain cup, a dome of bubbles.
  • A market stall of chillies, nuts and spices Mole sauces are built from chilli peppers, fruit, nuts and spices. Sacks with rolled tops, a scoop in each.
  • A molcajete and its pestle The Mexican mortar, true ones made of basalt. The pestle is called a tejolote. Rough, pitted stone.
  • A molinillo frothing a jug of chocolate A turned wooden whisk, rolled between the palms to froth hot chocolate. Draw both hands flat against the handle.
  • A plate of nopales The pads of the prickly pear can be eaten. Draw one whole pad and one cut into strips.
  • A pot of tamales with steam lifting the lid Tamales are steamed in their wrappers. A tall pot, a cloud of steam, husk ends showing at the rim.
  • A row of tamales in their husks Masa dough steamed in a corn husk. Five ribbed parcels side by side, one a little open.
  • A stack of tortillas in a cloth Tortillas are made from corn or wheat. A pile of thin discs, the cloth folded back from the top.
  • A taco held in one hand A taco is a small tortilla folded round a filling and eaten by hand. Draw the fold as a wide U.
  • A tray of conchas in three flavours The usual toppings are chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Same roll nine times, three colours.
  • An ear of elote with a bite taken out Elote is a cooked ear of maize eaten straight off the cob. Rows of kernels, a gap where the bite was.
  • Chiles en nogada A green chile under white walnut sauce, scattered with red pomegranate seeds: the colours of the flag.
  • Three tacos on a plate, three fillings Same tortilla, different tops. Use a different texture for each: shreds, cubes, slices.

Crafts and dress 14

  • A barro negro jar Black clay pottery from Oaxaca, polished before firing to give a metallic sheen. One dark pot, one bright highlight.
  • A brightly coloured serape with fringed ends A long blanket-like shawl worn in Mexico, often brightly coloured and fringed at the ends.
  • A drawing on brown paper, as if on bark Amate is bark paper made in Mexico since before the Spanish came. Painters in Guerrero work on it today.
  • A huipil laid flat A loose tunic made from two or three rectangles of cloth, with an opening for the head. Draw the seams.
  • A label for your own alebrije The first alebrijes were made in Mexico City in 1936. Give yours a name, a date and a list of its animals.
  • A lotería board: a four by four grid of pictures Each player's board holds sixteen of the fifty-four pictures in the deck. Draw sixteen things from your day.
  • A lotería card of your own Lotería is a Mexican game like bingo, played with picture cards. Each card shows one object and its name.
  • A rebozo folded over a chair A long flat shawl worn mostly by women in Mexico, and used to carry babies and bundles. Soft folds, a fringe.
  • A tree of life crowded with small figures A clay sculpture of central Mexico shaped like a tree. Modern ones take any theme, so choose your own.
  • A wooden alebrije from Oaxaca In Oaxaca alebrijes are carved from copal wood. Keep the limbs simple and blocky, then cover them in pattern.
  • An alebrije made from three animals Alebrijes are brightly coloured folk-art creatures that combine parts of different animals. Choose three.
  • An alebrije's skin: a page of your own patterns Alebrijes are brightly coloured all over. Fill six boxes with six patterns you could paint on one.
  • The embroidered neck of a huipil Each community has its own designs for weaving and embroidery. Work outward from the neck opening.
  • Three lotería cards for things in your kitchen One object per card, with its name lettered underneath and its number beside it.

How it works

Every subject here is real and named: a salamander that keeps its gills, a pyramid of nine terraces, a sweet roll shaped like a shell. These Mexico drawing ideas give one checked detail each.

Read the full guide

Mexico things to draw, by topic

The Topic groups sort the list four ways. Animals and plants runs from the axolotl to the dahlia, the national flower. Places and ancient sites holds Maya and older cities, volcanoes and canals. Food and Crafts and dress stay with things you could hold: a concha, a molcajete, a huipil.

Mexican drawing ideas without the clichés

A country is not a hat and a cactus. Draw the particular thing and say which one it is: a saguaro grows in Sonora, a prickly pear is the cactus on the flag. Look at a photograph for anything you have never seen, and write its name under the drawing.

  • Green, white and red, left to right, are the flag's bands. The eagle, cactus and snake go in the white one.
  • Patterned subjects such as alebrijes and huipils are two drawings: the plain shape first, the pattern second.

Questions and answers

What is on the Mexican flag?

Three equal vertical bands of green, white and red. In the white band is the coat of arms: a golden eagle atop a prickly pear cactus with a snake. The design comes from the legend of where the Aztecs were to build their city.

What is an alebrije?

A brightly coloured folk-art sculpture of an imaginary creature that mixes parts of different animals. The first were papier-mâché figures made in Mexico City in 1936, and artisans in Oaxaca later carved them from copal wood.

Is there a separate list for the Day of the Dead?

Yes. Sugar skulls, altars and marigolds are on the Day of the Dead list, linked below. This one covers the country the rest of the year: its animals, places, food and crafts.

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